December 2016 Housing Starts in the Sherbrooke CMA

MONTRÉAL, QUÉBEC--(Marketwired - Jan. 10, 2017) - Housing starts in the Sherbrooke census metropolitan area (CMA) were trending at 1,101 units in December, compared with 1,041 in November, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.

"In December, the housing starts trend in the Sherbrooke CMA was up from the previous month. Despite this one-time rise, housing starts for 2016 overall reached 1,197 units, down 12 per cent compared to the same period in 2015. The decrease in activity was primarily observed in the condominium segment, particularly because of a high volume of units of this type available on the resale market," said Rosemarie Bégin, Market Analyst at CMHC.

CMHC uses the trend measure as a complement to the monthly SAAR of housing starts to account for considerable swings in monthly estimates and obtain a more complete picture of the state of the housing market. In some situations, analyzing only SAAR data can be misleading in some markets, as they are largely driven by the multiples segment of the markets, which can be quite variable from one month to the next.

The stand-alone monthly SAAR was 1,190 units in December, down from 2,057 in November.

Preliminary housing starts data is also available in English and French at the following link:
Preliminary Housing Starts Tables.

As Canada's authority on housing, CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers objective housing research and information to Canadian governments, consumers and the housing industry.

For more information, visit our website at www.cmhc.ca or follow us on Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Additional data is available upon request.

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To view the graph and tables associated with this release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1082123e.pdf